First People Revelires

C20/Expanded Epiphany System First People Revelries


C20 added “Revelry”, a kith-specific method for recovering Glamour to the game but did not give this ability to the Nunnehi (and by extension the Menehune). This is likely because C20 retconned away the Nunnehi’s ability to draw power from human inspiration and emotion altogether, doubling down on the “being disconnected from the Dreaming makes them something different” narrative.

It should be obvious by now what we think of that narrative but in case it isn’t: it’s a terrible choice to encode a disadvantage for the only explored nonwhite groups into the game’s core mechanics. Particularly one that is contradicted by white group’s history (the Kithain did not lose the ability to muse during the interregnum, despite being completely cut off from the Dreaming as the Nunnehi are now). While there are interpretations of the animist feeding dynamic that aren't centered on coping with colonial violence, this is how the system is framed in the canon. We think this was done carelessly, rather than maliciously, but like all cultural mis-steps in popular culture, that doesn’t make it any better.



Part of how we handle this issue is a more open approach to Epiphanies detailed in the recent Origins and Epiphanies post. If you are running with the Revelry system from C20 this still gives Changelings with the "Hero" origin a significant advantage in the form of Revelry. So we wanted to develop suggested Revelries for the Nunnehi and Menehune to make them somewhat more equal players in the C20 feeding dynamics. Our suggestion is to allow any changeling to partake in Revelry, regardless of their origin when using the Origins and Epiphanies system.

The majority of this text was written by Victor, but Simon suggested changes to, and completely rewrote a few of the first draft Revelries. Some of these Revelries are more rooted in the game writeups of these groups, but in many cases they are based on external research we did and reflect an attempt to bring some more of the group's origins to bear on their play experience. The Kokua specifically stand out to me as an example of this. When researching the origins of "Kokua" I discovered it is the Hawi'ian name for assistance or aid. Having a warrior kith with a blood rage frailty given a name rooted in communal nurturing left me at a loss for quite a while. I am still somewhat uncertain of my attempt to reconcile this dissonant naming, but I must admit the idea of any Kithain, or other foolish creature daring to go up against a group of Kokua lead by a powerful Ali'i with the Revelry I gave the Ali'i makes me very happy, so for now I'm leaving these as they are.

Simon and Victor are presenting these Revelries as a suggested starting point. We are ultimately a couple of white dudes trying to put together less problematic content than the original game, and as much research as we did, including a couple conversations with friends who are members of first nations cultures, this approach is limited, and we are aware we may well have screwed some of this up.

We are open to and encourage criticism of this work, and depending on what feedback we get we may revise and update this text in the future.

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